Conan the Barbarian (Character)
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films (including Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer), television programs (cartoon and live-action), video games, role-playing games and other media. The character was created by writer Robert E. Howard in 1932 via a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales magazine. Films Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984) Main articles: Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer The very first Conan cinematic project was planned by Edward Summer. Summer envisioned a series of Conan movies, much like the James Bond franchise. He outlined six stories for this film series, but none were ever made. An original screenplay by Summer and Roy Thomas was written, but their lore-authentic screen story was never filmed. However, the resulting film, Conan the Barbarian (1982), was a combination of director John Milius' ideas and plots from Conan stories (written also by Howard's successors, notably Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp). The addition of Nietzschean motto and Conan's life philosophy were crucial for bringing the spirit of Howard's literature to the screen. The plot of Conan the Barbarian (1982) begins with Conan being enslaved by the Vanir raiders of Thulsa Doom, a malevolent warlord who is responsible for the slaying of Conan's parents and the genocide of his people. Later, Thulsa Doom becomes a cult leader of a religion that worships Set, a Snake God. The vengeful Conan, the archer Subotai and the thief Valeria set out on a quest to rescue a princess held captive by Thulsa Doom. The film was directed by John Milius and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. The character of Conan was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and was his break-through role as an actor. This film was followed by a less popular sequel, Conan the Destroyer in 1984. This sequel was a more typical fantasy-genre film and was even less faithful to Howard's Conan stories. Conan the Conqueror (cancelled) The third film in the Conan trilogy was planned for 1987 to be titled Conan the Conqueror. The director was to be either Guy Hamilton or John Guillermin. Since Arnold Schwarzenegger was committed to the film Predator and De Laurentiis's contract with the star had expired after his obligation to Red Sonja and Raw Deal, he wasn't keen to negotiate a new one; thus the third Conan movie sank into development hell. The script was eventually turned into Kull the Conqueror. Conan the Barbarian (2011) Main article: Conan the Barbarian (2011) There were rumours in the late 1990s of another second Conan sequel, a story about an older Conan titled King Conan: Crown of Iron, but Schwarzenegger's election in 2003 as governor of California ended this project. Warner Bros. spent seven years trying to get the project off the ground, with development attempts made by The Wachowskis, John Milius, and Robert Rodriguez, who left the project for Grindhouse. Boaz Yakin was hired in 2006 to start again. However, in June 2007 the rights reverted to Paradox Entertainment, though all drafts made under Warner remained with them. Paradox's CEO, Fredrik Malmberg, told Variety "we have great respect for Warner Bros., but after seven years, we came to the point where we needed to see progress to production." Paradox were auctioning the rights after and various groups took interest in producing, including New Line Cinema, Hollywood Gang, and Millennium Films. Due to development-time frustrations felt when the rights were with Warner, Malmberg made deal terms where he was asking for $1 million for a one-year option, with another $1 million for each year's renewal. In August 2007, it was announced that Millennium had acquired the right to the project in an unrevealed seven-figure deal, with Malmberg and Millennium's Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, Joe Gatta and George Furla set to produce. The deal was brokered by Gatta, who originally made the deal between Paradox and Warner in 2002. Production was aimed for a Spring 2006 start, with the intention of having stories more faithful to the Robert E. Howard creation. In November 2008, The Hollywood Reporter, based on a press release from Lerner, reported that Brett Ratner was committed to direct Conan; an update changed this to state he was in final negotiations. Days later, however, Ratner announced, "I am not doing 'Conan' now. This is totally premature. For now, 'Conan' is only a development deal. In June 2009, Nu Image/Millennium Films hired Marcus Nispel to direct. In January 2010, Jason Momoa was selected for the role of Conan. In February 2010, on the eve of production, Sean Hood was brought in to retool the screenplay. The Legend of Conan On October 25, 2012 it was announced that a sequel to the 1982 Conan the Barbarian titled The Legend of Conan is being planned with Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his role as Conan. The film is scheduled to be released in 2014 by Universal with The film being produced by Fredrik Malmberg and Chris Morgan. On October 1, 2013, Deadline reported that Andrea Berloff will be writing the script. Animated film An animated feature, Conan: Red Nails, based upon the novella of the same name, was partially completed but appears to have stalled. Category:Male Characters Category:Conan Characters